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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS
Archaeologists with Parks Canada have recovered the bell from the wreck of HMS Erebus, one of the two ships from the doomed Franklin Expedition. H MS Erebus became trapped in the ice near the entrance to the Victoria Strait in 1848 and had to be abandoned . Franklin and his entire crew of 128 m en perished . The Parks Can ada archaeologists original intention was no t to recover artifac ts, just ye t, from the wreck site, but in Septem ber, when they located the ship's bell on the seafloor, it was too im portant to leave behind ; it has since been recovered and is now being conserved in Ottawa. The bell is in remarkably good condition , with its broad arrow and year marki ngs plainly
A sealed bottle of champagne recovered from a I 9th-century Finnish wreck site.
Bell from HMS Erebus visible. The wreck site is protected as a National H istoric Site of C anada. The North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) has created a new fellowship, honoring Professor Jim Bradford, former president of NASOH. The Jam es C. Bradford Dissertation Research Fellowship in Naval H isto ry will award $ 1,000 to a PhD student fo r work in naval h istory or ocher topics in m aritime history. Applicants muse be full-tim e graduate students whose dissertation proposals have already been accepted by their university. D eadline is 15 March 201 5. (Inform atio n on how to apply is on the NASO H website at www. nasoh. org.) This fall, a Finnish brewery recreated the beer found in five bottles on a 19th-century shipwreck off Finland's Aland Islands in 2010. The sh ipwreck has been dubbed the "Champagne Schooner" because it contained m ore than a hundred bo ttles of champagn e in addition to the smaller cache of beer. The beer was contai ned in brown hand-blown glass bo ttles sealed wi th corks; chey have been sin ing on the 42
seafloor, undamaged, fo r approximately 170 years. Scientists from the Technological Research Center VTT in Finland an alyzed the contents of two of the bottles, giving eno ugh diagnostic informatio n to the Stallhagen Brewery to com e up with a reci pe th at closely replicates the l 840s-era beer. Ask yo ur favor ite vendo r fo r Stellwagen's "Shipwreck Beer." (Stallhagen Ab, Godby, Aland, Finland, www. stallhagen .com) ... This fall, the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) and Salve Regina University, both based in Newport, Rhode Island, have entered into an articulation agreement. IYRS students wh o wish to complete a bachelor's degree can tran sfer to Salve Regina with elective credits fo r their studies at IYRS , giving greater optio ns fo r IYRS students post-graduation. The two institutions are within walking distan ce from one another in Newport. IYRS is also h ome to the M useum of Yachting. (IYRS, 449 Thames Street, Newpo rt, RI, 02840; www.iyrs.edu . Salve Regina University, 100 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, RI, 02840; www.salve. edu) .. . Mallows Bay in the Potomac River has been nominated as a National Marine Sanctuary. The re mai ns of m ore than 200 wooden merchant vessels fro m Wo rld War I lie in che bay, m any visible at all stages of che tide. Many look more like vessel-sh aped giant planters, with
plants and fu ll-grown trees growing out of them . Even so, the collection of ships is quite a sight. Last June, NOAA anno unced chat it was reopening the nominatio n process fo r nationally significant m arine and freshwater si tes as potential new national marine sanctuaries. The National Marin e Sanctuary System was established in 1972 to recognize and prom ote the conservation, recreational, ecological, h istorical, research or aesthetic values of special areas of the m arine enviro nment; there are currently 14 NMS across the country. Called the "Gh ost Fleet of M allows Bay," chis wo uld be the first N M S in che Ch esapeake Bay region. This gro up of Wo rld War I-era vessels, as well as others dating from the American Revolution onward, represents one of the m ost unique m aritime archaeological environments in th e world. Also contai ned within the bo undaries of the regio n nominated are Native Am erican, colonial, and Civil War terres trial sites . -- -· ~~~ --~-
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Mallows Bay shipwrecks NOAA will consider nominated sites for natio nal m arine sanctuary designation by caking in to acco unt input and support from various local, regional, and natio nal interests. Members of the public are encouraged to submit letters of suppo rt fo r che no mina tion of Mallows Bay as the newest Natio nal Marine Sanctuary to Charlie Seek, Steering Committee C hair, Potomac River-Mallows Bay Na tional Marine San ctuary, at ch arliestek@gm ail. com. (Inform ation on Mallows Bay and its applicatio n status can be found on the Maryland Dep artment of Na tural Resources web site at www. d nr.s tate. md.us/ ccs/m allows b ay.asp) ... The Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) has been awarded a $56,333-grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services SEA HISTORY 149, WINTER 2014- 15